1、中西方谚语中时间观念之对比分析中西方谚语中时间观念之对比分析中西方谚语中时间观念之对比分析A Contrastive Analysis of Time Concept in Chinese and Western ProverbsAcknowledgementsThis thesis has taken me almost two years to turn it from conception to the final completion. It is a work of joint efforts from many people. So I especially wish to ext
2、end my gratitude for the following people.Firstly, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to my supervisor Professor Meng li for her patient and constructive instructions on my thesis writing. I have got more inspiration and motivation to accomplish this study. I can deeply touched by her
3、 responsibility.Secondly, I would like to thank my dear classmates and roommates. They helped me so much by giving me useful suggestions and encourage me when I was in trouble and in confusion. Without their concern and companion, I cannot finish my paper smoothly. I benefit a lot from our daily com
4、munication.All in all, thanks all the people who offer me selfless support. Your kindness would be remembered forever.摘 要不同的文化背景塑造了人们不同的时间观念，由于中西方文化传统的不同，导致人们的时间观念存在差异。本文简单介绍了中西方谚语中时间观念的不同，包含时间与金钱、机遇、改变以及速度方面，并总文化、历史、社会三个方面阐述了导致时间观念不同的原因，以期为在一定程度上对中西语言研究以及跨文化交际研究起指导作用。关键词: 美国谚语；中国谚语；时间观念ContentsAckn
5、owledgements .iAbstract.ii摘要.iii1 Introduction.7 2 Literature Review.73 Comparison and Analysis .33.1 The Proverbs Reflecting Time Value.7 3.1.1 TimeMoney.8 3.1.2 TimeOpportunity.83.2 The Proverbs Reflecting Time Experience .9 3.2.1 TimeChange.9 3.2.2 TimeSpeed.94 The Reasons of Difference in Time C
6、oncept10 4.1 Culture.10 4.2 History.10 4.3 Society105 Conclusion .11Works Cited.11(Appendix) .11A Contrastive Analysis of Time Concept in Chinese and Western Proverbs 1IntroductionECStewart said that barriers to understanding each other in cross-cultural communication can be attributed to difference
7、s in common ideas and values among different cultures. The concept of time is a different understanding and understanding of time by different nations. It is a basic factor of the environment of human activities and a part of the deep structure of a national culture. ETHall, an American anthropologi
8、st, once said: Time speaks. It is more forthright than the vocal language, and the message it conveys is loud and clear, because it is neither controlled nor easily misunderstood as a vocal language , It can often reveal the lies expressed by words. Each culture has its own time language just as it
9、has its own language, its specific cultural background of time attitude and explanation, and time language does not pass through conscious Of the learning has come, but imperceptibly learned. This article probes into the differences in time and the reasons why Western and Chinese sayings are among C
10、hinese and Western people.2 Literature ReviewAll ethnic groups keep a record of culture through culture with ethnic characteristics and reflect the culture and exchange of culture. Proverbs, as a kind of language, are the essence of language extracted from the oral and classics of the people and are
11、 one of the oldest and most valuable manifestations of human culture. Proverbs have their own characteristics in content, social function and form. In terms of content, the proverb is the summary of working-life experience and the crystallization of wisdom; it reflects the status of a nation. In soc
12、ial functions, proverbs often serve to convey experience and reflect the role of reality. In formal terms, proverbs tend to be concise and easy to understand. Due to the difference of culture, history and society, the time in Chinese and western proverbs is also different.3 Comparison and Analysis3.
13、1 The Proverbs Reflecting Time Value3.1.1 TimeMoneyIn chinese，the concept of “Time is money”is quite common.Many chinese people consider ancient Chinese seldom view time as money,but this point of view should be changed by that fact that many chinese time proverbs antually show this concept.Fow exam
14、ple ，When money is hard to buy a boy, time is money, efficiency is life, gold is hard to buy, an inch of gold, an inch of gold is hard to buy.Westerners time is very specific, only figures, with accurate hours, minutes, seconds to measure. Westerners treat time and money as equal exchange entities,
15、time allows them to make money, money can also win time for them, and similarly Spare time is the gold dust of life, He that gains time gains all things , Friends are thieves of time , Times up and more. In these idioms, time is treated as a consumable, acquired entity. On appointment, on time and o
16、n time, and can not be late for no reason.3.1.2 TimeOpportunityThere are adage in Chinese proverbs such as according to the time and conditions and awareness of the time servant. Americans think they should seize the moment and set a goal for the future. Americans think that the present and the futu
17、re are more important now than in the past because whatever happens in the future can be within human control, believing that whether it is an individual or a collective, cherishing immediate time, establishing short-term goals and long-term goals, arranging time, Change everything.The following pro
18、verbs, which Americans love, are a good illustration of how they value their current time.Time and tide wait for no man.The early bird catches the worm.It is toolate to grieve when the chance is past.3.2 The Proverbs Reflecting Time Experience 3.2.1 TimeChange In Western civilization, time is the st
19、arting point. It is moving. It is passing, precious and stubborn. Once it has passed, it can not be repaired. St. Augustine once said, God is eternity in the sense of overtime, where there is no so-called before and after, only eternity, time from the beginning of creation to the end of judgment, in
20、to nothing Time states. So, we found that in Western civilization, time is beginning and end, there will be the day of extinction, rather than never exhausted.However, the change of time in our Chinese civilization is coordinated with natural rhythms. It is an eternal spiraling movement that always
21、follows itself, such as day and night alternations, seasonal reciprocations, plant cycle growth, replacement of labor and labor in agriculture, Have a circular cycle of self-reversion to the cyclical cycle of activities. So, everything is in a loop, the time is the same. So, we believe that today is
22、 gone, as well as tomorrow, there are numerous tomorrow and tomorrow, is a long history.3.2.2 TimeSpeedTo seize the time is the prerequisite to complete any work, if you follow the rules, it will accomplish nothing. So, todays today is completed today, Never put off till tomorrow what you Can do tod
23、ay. Everything you can do today can not be pushed to tomorrow because tomorrow is not reliable. Tomorrow comes never. Depends on tomorrow. In fact, often we think that the work that can be done at any time can not be done because it is not always taken care of. What may bedone at any time will he da
24、ne at no time.4 The Reasons of Difference in Time Concept 4.1 CultureBased on the different religions, traditional cultures and traditional Chinese cultures of both China and the West, we pay attention to the cycle and the cycle. The Taoism, the Life , Good at comprehensive thinking, tend to adopt a
25、 multi-directional view of the cycle of time; Westerners original sin and Christian doctrine basically laid the history of the theory can not be recycled, tend to adopt a one-way view of linear time. Chinese culture tends to the past in terms of time orientation; Western culture seldom reviews the p
26、ast and focuses on the future. Chinese people write the date in descending order of year, month and day. Westerners are just the opposite. This is because Chinese people have a heavy process and the process takes precedence over everything from small to small. Westerners like it At the beginning, fi
27、rst priority, from small to large.4.2 History China and the West have different development histories. For China, it has a history of more than 5,000 years of civilization, forming a profound cultural foundation. In particular, the feudal history of over 2,000 years has left a profound cultural impr
28、int on the people. Under the influence of this cultural heritage, China has formed some specific time concepts and has inherited and developed it, affecting peoples daily behavior. In the western developed countries, they experienced the bourgeois revolution and the three industrial revolutions. The
29、 standard of living of the people has been greatly improved, and their ideas have also been greatly liberated. Under the influence of this historical development, they formed their own ideas. It can be seen that there are great differences in the historical development between China and the West. Th
30、is is one of the important reasons for the different conceptions of time between Chinese and Western proverbs.4.3 SocietyDue to the different social backgrounds in China and the West, China is a traditional farming society. For a long period of time, all farming practices depend on the changing of the four seasons to decide on agriculture. Therefore, Chinese commonly used vocabularies of expressing time often adopt vague expressi
